Facebook launches rebranded ‘auto inventory ads,’ expands retargeting

Facebook announced on Friday the next iteration of its dynamic ads for auto. The ads have been rebranded as “auto inventory ads” and will come with a new level of retargeting capabilities, allowing auto dealerships to target users who have visited car-related Pages, apps and sites across web. The new ad product rolls out globally on Jan. 25 to all dealerships and will be available on Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network.

Why you should care

The newly “enhanced” auto inventory ads will allow dealerships to target a much wider audience. Facebook’s original dynamic ads for auto made it possible for dealerships using the Facebook Pixel to target ads based on people who had visited their website. With this latest version of the ad product, retargeting capabilities are now based on user visits to automotive-related sites across the web — not just the advertiser’s website.

“Here’s how the ads work: Let’s say someone is researching and comparing vehicles across several car and dealership sites. Automotive inventory ads allow dealers to upload their car inventory with details such as make, model, year and location. We then automatically generate tailored ads that show the most relevant vehicles to the right audiences,” writes Facebook.

Trace Przybylowicz, Facebook’s industry relations lead for auto says the new ads are a natural evolution of Facebook’s automotive ad offering and rooted in consumer behavior. According to Przybylowicz, the first iteration of Facebook’s dynamic ads for auto were made to be efficient; the new ads have been designed to capture car buyers further up the sales funnel.

Beta users of the ad product included a Santa Monica Lexus dealership that saw 3.2-times more vehicle detail page views and three-times lower cost per vehicle detail page view compared to previous campaigns. Another dealership, Castle Chevrolet, reported a 27 percent increase in reach using the auto inventory ads.

More on the news

• A Facebook-commissioned study by Accenture in July 2018 found that 63 percent of people discover new automobiles online and 53 percent decide on new automobiles online.
• Facebook says users can opt-out of automotive inventory ads by clicking on the three-dots located in the upper right-hand corner of the ad.
• Facebook first introduced ads for auto dealerships in November 2017.